A film review by Edmund Stone
Napoleon, which debuts this month, is not a documentary, it’s a Ridley Scott film.
Do not expect meticulous historical accuracy but do get ready to immerse yourself in a film about one of history’s most celebrated and controversial leaders as told through Scott’s atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Director Scott does not do anything small, and this is about as big as it gets.
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and Vanessa Kirby as Josephine. Phoenix turns in a riveting performance as Napoleon. Together, Scott and Phoenix have created an Emperor that is more than the historical or pop culture icon. He is more than just ambition, he’s human, filled with foibles and fears, bravado and buffoonery, as well as military strategy brilliance and lust for… well, just about everything, but mostly for his beloved Josephine. Most films do not typically show the Empress Josephine as much more than a prop to her lionized spouse, but in this epic bio-pic Scott has given her as much dimension, or perhaps even more so, than he does the Emperor. Vanessa Kirby is electrifying in the role, crafting a Josephine who is a lioness in her own right.
The film marches through history starting with the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette being given over to “Madame la Guillotine”, chronicling Napoleon’s stratospheric rise through the ranks to become Emperor. We are bathed in gorgeous sets depicting major events and battles such as the fall of Robespierre, the 1799 coup, and the terrifying and triumphant Battle of Austerlitz, considered to be a military tactical masterpiece. Certainly the scene is a spectacular piece in the film, ending in a rout of the Russian army over a frozen pond, as cannons bombard them to an icy end, the cinematic visuals eerily intermingling swirls of ice and blood.
The diminutive Emperor had monumental triumphs and even more fateful failures. There are so many battle scenes – which is to be expected when creating a movie about one of the greatest military strategists of all time – that the cinematic carnage is numbing.
Composer Martin Phipps faced a tremendous challenge with the music. Ridley Scott did not give him any specific direction, but wanted the music to reflect the character of Napoleon – a man who was not a French aristocrat but a fighter, an outsider from Corsica. There is a roughness to the music that befits the historic figure. Phipps managed to track down a piano – also rough in its performance – that was actually owned by Napoleon, and used it in the score. The composer incorporates classical music from the era, a Corsican choral group, and to a degree downplays the requisite drum and timpani that accompanies the plethora of battle scenes.
Some viewers will be waiting with bated breath for the four-hour Director’s Cut to be released. Others will be waiting impatiently to be released from the already lengthy two hours and 38 minute film. As with many things associated with Napoleon, your perspective may depend upon which side you are on. The movie is a grand spectacle about a defining and dramatic period in Europe. It is not exactly a history lesson but it is an excellent example of Ridley Scott’s gifted story telling.